Late Archaic Polychrome Pottery from Aiani

Excavations at the necropolis of Aiani have yielded fifty-six locally produced polychrome vases dated to the second quarter of the 5th century B.C. The shapes and decoration appear to have no immediate predecessors, and no descendants, in the local tradition, and no close parallels in Macedonian or foreign wares. Some influence of local terracotta production and certain relationships with various wares produced in Central Greece, Attica, and East Greece can be traced, but the manufacture of this pottery owes less to direct imitation than to the experimentation and inventiveness of the local potters. This article presents this interesting group of pottery and examines the society that produced and used it.